2 Kings 9
He Drove Furiously, and Jezebel Went Out the Window
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Jehu Anointed King over Israel
9:1Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, ‘Fasten your belt, take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Remmoth-gilead.’
9:2‘Go in there and look there for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi. Go in, make him rise from among his brothers, and bring him into a chamber within a chamber.’
9:3‘Take the flask of oil, pour it over his head, and say: Thus says the Lord: I have anointed you king over Israel. Then open the door and flee; do not remain.’
9:4The young man, the prophet, went to Remmoth-gilead
9:5and entered, and there the army commanders were sitting. He said, ‘I have a word for you, commander.’ Jehu said, ‘For which of all of us?’ He said, ‘For you, commander.’
9:6He rose and entered the house. He poured the oil over his head and said to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I have anointed you king over the Lord’s people, over Israel,
9:7and you shall destroy the house of Ahab your master from before Me, and you shall avenge the blood of My slaves the prophets and the blood of all the Lord’s slaves at Jezebel’s hand
9:8and at the hand of the whole house of Ahab. You shall destroy from Ahab’s house every one who urinates against a wall, both confined and abandoned in Israel.
9:9I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah.
9:10Dogs shall devour Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there will be no one to bury her.’ He opened the door and fled.
9:11Jehu came out to his master’s attendants. They said to him, ‘Is there peace? Why did this deranged man come in to you?’ He said to them, ‘You know the man and his idle chatter.’
9:12They said, ‘That is wrong! Please report it to us.’ Jehu said to them, ‘Thus and thus he spoke to me, saying: Thus says the Lord: I have anointed you king over Israel.’
9:13On hearing it, they hurried, each took his garment and placed it beneath him on the garem of the steps, and they sounded a horn trumpet and said, ‘Jehu has become king!’
Jehu Rides to Jezreel
9:14Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. Joram himself and all Israel had been guarding Remmoth-gilead against Hazael king of Syria,
9:15and King Joram had returned to Jezreel to be treated for the wounds the Syrians had inflicted on him when he fought Hazael king of Syria. Jehu said, ‘If your life is with me, let no one escape from the city to go and report in Jezreel.’
9:16Jehu rode on horseback, went on, and came down to Jezreel, for Joram king of Israel was being treated in Jezreel for the arrow wounds with which the Aramim had shot him at Rammath in the war against Hazael king of Syria, for he was powerful and a man of might. Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to see Joram.
9:17The lookout went up onto the tower in Jezreel. He saw Jehu’s dust as he approached and said, ‘I see dust.’ Joram said, ‘Take a rider and send him before them, and let him say, Is there peace?’
9:18The horse rider went to meet them and said, ‘Thus says the king: Is there peace?’ Jehu said, ‘What have you to do with peace? Turn back behind me.’ The lookout reported, ‘The messenger has reached them but has not returned.’
9:19He sent a second horse rider. He came to him and said, ‘Thus says the king: Is there peace?’ Jehu said, ‘What have you to do with peace? Turn back behind me.’
9:20The lookout reported, ‘He has reached them but has not returned.’ The driver was driving Jehu son of Nimshi, for he was in a deranged state.
Joram Struck in the Portion of Naboth
9:21Joram said, ‘Yoke up!’ A chariot was yoked. Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, to meet Jehu. They found him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite.
9:22When Joram saw Jehu, he said, ‘Is there peace, Jehu?’ Jehu said, ‘What peace? The prostitutions of Jezebel your mother and her many sorceries still remain.’
9:23Joram turned his hands to flee and said to Ahaziah, ‘Deceit, Ahaziah!’
9:24Jehu filled his hand with the bow and struck Joram between his arms. The arrow came out through his heart, and he bent down onto his knees.
9:25Jehu said to Badekar his officer, ‘Throw him into the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. For I remember you and me riding on paired teams behind Ahab his father, when the Lord took up this oracle against him, saying:
9:26“Surely, alongside Naboth’s blood, I saw the blood of his sons yesterday, says the Lord, and I will repay him in this portion, says the Lord.” Now lift him up and throw him into the portion, according to the word of the Lord.’
The Death of Ahaziah King of Judah
9:27Ahaziah king of Judah saw this and fled by the road of Baithaggan. Jehu pursued him and said, ‘Him too!’ He struck him in the chariot on the ascent of Gai, which is Ibleam. He fled to Megiddo and died there.
9:28His attendants placed him on the chariot, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb in the city of David.
9:29In the eleventh year of Joram king of Israel, Ahaziah became king over Judah.
The End of Jezebel
9:30Jehu came to Jezreel. Jezebel heard, painted her eyes with antimony, adorned her head, and looked out through the window.
9:31As Jehu entered the city, she said, ‘Is there peace, Zimri, murderer of his master?’
9:32He lifted his face toward the window, saw her, and said, ‘Who are you? Come down with me.’ Two eunuchs leaned down toward him.
9:33He said, ‘Roll her down!’ They rolled her down. Some of her blood spattered the wall and the horses, and they trampled her.
9:34Jehu went in, ate and drank, and said, ‘Please attend to this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king’s daughter.’
9:35They went to bury her, but found nothing else of her except the skull, the feet, and the traces of the hands.
9:36They returned and reported to him. He said, ‘It is the word of the Lord that He spoke through His slave Elijah the Tishbite, saying: In the portion of Jezreel dogs will devour Jezebel’s flesh,
9:37and Jezebel’s carcass will be like dung on the surface of the field in the portion of Jezreel, so that they cannot say, Jezebel.’
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.